- Objective—To determine pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of midazolam after IV and IM administration in alpacas. Animals—6 healthy alpacas. Procedures—Midazolam (0.5 mg/kg) was administered IV or IM in a randomized crossover design. Twelve hours prior to administration, catheters were placed in 1 (IM trial) or both (IV trial) jugular veins for drug administration and blood sample collection for determination of serum midazolam concentrations. Blood samples were obtained at intervals up to 24 hours after IM and IV administration. Midazolam concentrations were determined by use of tandem liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry. Results—Maximum concentrations after IV administration (median, 1,394 ng/mL [range, 1,150 to 1,503 ng/mL]) and IM administration (411 ng/mL [217 to 675 ng/mL]) were measured at 3 minutes and at 5 to 30 minutes, respectively. Distribution half-life was 18.7 minutes (13 to 47 minutes) after IV administration and 41 minutes (30 to 80 minutes) after IM administration. Elimination half-life was 98 minutes (67 to 373 minutes) and 234 minutes (103 to 320 minutes) after IV and IM administration, respectively. Total clearance after IV administration was 11.3 mL/min/kg (6.7 to 13.9 mL/min/kg), and steady-state volume of distribution was 525 mL/kg (446 to 798 mL/kg). Bioavailability of midazolam after IM administration was 92%. Peak onset of sedation occurred at 0.4 minutes (IV) and 15 minutes (IM). Sedation was significantly greater after IV administration. Conclusions and Clinical Relevance—Midazolam was well absorbed after IM administration, had a short duration of action, and induced moderate levels of sedation in alpacas. more »
- Alpacas are a species that present physiological, anatomical, morphological and behavioural distinctive characteristics compared to other species used in animal production. Empirical observation of a herd, grazing under time management controlled conditions, allowed to approximate some initial observations about the effect of alpacas in the management of ecosystems. Larger green matter availability in the paddocks grazed by alpacas, evident natural weed control, better plants distribution and increasing stocking capacity were the relevant observed issues. It is considered that the special behavioural characteristics of alpacas in terms of excretion habits, low hoof pressure, food conversion efficiency and grazing habits should be factors to be rigourously studied to explore the value of alpacas as an environmentally friendly species. more »
- In order to study how MTL affecte alpaca fleece growth at the slowest growth period of fleece (2～5 month), 12 pregnant alpacas were injected melatonin (MLT) by 0、 50、100、150 mg from Feb to May. The results showed that MTL caused diameter and stretched length increased significantly. During the experiment the fleece growth rate in treated groups was increased significantly, but MTL had no effects on picking amount and percentage of scoured wool rate. Above all, MTL played a great role in increasing alpaca fleece growth and 100mg was the best dosage. more »
- This study reports the latest research into alpaca and wool fibres. In particular, those properties that have received little attention in research literature have been examined. They include single fibre abrasion and bending fatigue, single fibre tensile properties, as well as resistance to compression behaviour. These properties are important because they affect the softness and pilling propensity of these fibres and the resultant fabrics. Clean wool and alpaca fibres were used in this study. Fibre abrasion/bending fatigue measurements were carried out using a Textechno FIBRESTRESS instrument. The resistance to compression (RtC) tests were carried out according to Australian Standard AS3535-1988. The results indicate that wool and alpaca fibres behave quite differently, even though both fibre types are of animal origin. Wool fibre resistance to compression decreases as fibre diameter increases while the opposite appears to occur for alpaca fibres. For both wool and alpaca the number of abrasion/bending cycles at fibre break increases with an increase in fibre diameter, it takes longer to break the alpaca fibres. Reasons for these differences have been postulated based on differences in fibre surface and structure between alpaca and wool. more »
- Bovine Viral Diarrhea (BVD) is an emerging disease in both New World Camelids (NWCs) and Old World Camelids (OWCs). The virus has been isolated from NWCs particularly in alpacas and dromedaries, but there are no reports of BVD in Bactrians. BVD is an important infectious disease. Both sub-genotypes 1a, 1b and genotype 2 have been isolated from NWCs but the ncp BVDV 1b is primarily implicated in cases of BVD in NWCs. A BVD strain unique to camelids has not yet been isolated. In NWCs virtually all infections have been caused by the non-cytopathic (ncp) BVDV, Persistently infected crias have also been detected. Llamas and alpacas demonstrate clinical signs such as ill thrift, diarrhea, respiratory ailments and abortions. As in bovines, identification and elimination of PI animals, has the highest priority to avoid infection of the entire herd. BVD was also observed in dromedaries and interestingly, both genotypes of the Pestivirus, BVDV-1 and BVDV-2, were isolated from dromedaries in Egypt. Both isolates revealed a cytopathic effect (cpe) and so far no ncp virus has been isolated from dromedaries. Also in dromedaries, BVD infections caused intrauterine death, stillbirth, weak calf syndrome with congenital deformities, neonatal respiratory disorders in young dromedary calves and acute hemorrhagic gastroenteritis in adult dromedaries. So far, no PI dromedaries have been described. more »